Tatoo artists around the Southeast are readying their guns for the rush of fans they are certain to see. Hendrick Motorsports announced Friday, that despite diligent attempts to negotiate a deal that would bring the no. 8 to Hendrick Motorsports and allow Dale Earnhardt Jr. to continue to drive his trademark car number.
"We've been working hard to secure the #8 for Dale Jr.'s car number next season," said Marshall Carlson, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. "Obviously, he has a tremendous history with that number, and we know how important it is to his fans. Unfortunately, we couldn't reach a point where the terms made sense, and now we have to move forward with other options."
"Personally, I sort of planned for this," Earnhardt said. "I've been in these negotiations with the same person before, and they've never worked out in our favor. I knew this was the way it was going to be. I just didn't have the guts to tell my fans. They were holding out and hoping it would work out. I didn't have the guts to tell them it was just a waste of time hoping that would happen."
So the battle between step-mother and son continues and it is clear that there are hard feelings when it comes to Jr. leaving the company his father founded. It is sad that the company that bears his name is being run by someone that truly has the wrong motivations at heart.
"I'm not going to sit here and get personal about this. The personal stuff is way far away from the racetrack. It's upsetting as hell, and unfortunate. But you know, that's just what happens sometimes. Like I say, I kind of had an idea that we were going to come down this road and have to take another turn. I knew this was the way it was going to happen. I'm not really all that surprised," he said.
Earnhardt was complimentary of DEI president Max Siegel's efforts to negotiate the use of the number."Max tried his butt off to make it work," Earnhardt Jr. said. "He was trying to talk to Teresa and get some sense into her."
Jr. has said all along that if Hendrick couldn't procure the no. 8 that his preference would be the 81. Jr. has driven that number before in the Busch series, but as of now, no timetable has been set for the announcement of his new number.
And to all his fans with No. 8 tattoos? "Hold on. Hang tight," he said.
Fiction turns reality
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